IFP Advisors Inc Has $84.75 Million Holdings in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL)

IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 338,411 shares of the iPhone maker's stock after buying an additional 29,177 shares during the quarter. Apple comprises about 2.8% of IFP Advisors Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. IFP Advisors Inc's holdings in Apple were worth $84,749,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Shariaportfolio Inc. lifted its position in Apple by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Shariaportfolio Inc. now owns 4,149 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $1,039,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Waverton Investment Management Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Apple by 12.1% during the 4th quarter. Waverton Investment Management Ltd now owns 470,328 shares of the iPhone maker's stock worth $117,775,000 after acquiring an additional 50,893 shares in the last quarter. Cannon Wealth Management Services LLC increased its position in shares of Apple by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Cannon Wealth Management Services LLC now owns 15,706 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $3,581,000 after buying an additional 1,473 shares in the last quarter. New World Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apple by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. New World Advisors LLC now owns 26,239 shares of the iPhone maker's stock valued at $6,571,000 after purchasing an additional 592 shares during the period. Finally, Genesis Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Apple during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,087,000. 67.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apple

In other Apple news, COO Jeffrey E. Williams sold 35,493 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $224.01, for a total value of $7,950,786.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 390,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $87,377,116.59. This trade represents a 8.34 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevan Parekh sold 4,570 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $206.00, for a total transaction of $941,420.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $941,214. The trade was a 50.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 187,021 shares of company stock worth $41,760,140. 0.06% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apple Price Performance

Shares of AAPL stock traded down $7.97 on Friday, reaching $205.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 100,891,435 shares, compared to its average volume of 56,192,627. The company has a quick ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.92 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.26. Apple Inc. has a 12-month low of $169.21 and a 12-month high of $260.10. The company has a market capitalization of $3.08 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.60, a PEG ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.26. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $212.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $228.61.

Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The iPhone maker reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.03. Apple had a return on equity of 160.83% and a net margin of 24.30%. The business had revenue of $95.36 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $94.04 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.53 EPS. The business's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apple Inc. will post 7.28 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apple declared that its board has approved a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 1st that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 billion in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the iPhone maker to purchase up to 3.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Apple Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 12th will be given a $0.26 dividend. This is an increase from Apple's previous quarterly dividend of $0.25. This represents a $1.04 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.51%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 12th. Apple's payout ratio is currently 15.87%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on AAPL. Scotiabank cut shares of Apple to a "market perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Apple from $295.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Apple from $270.00 to $245.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Apple from $250.00 to $230.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded Apple from an "underweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twelve have given a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apple has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $235.17.

Apple Profile

Apple Inc designs, manufactures, and markets smartphones, personal computers, tablets, wearables, and accessories worldwide. The company offers iPhone, a line of smartphones; Mac, a line of personal computers; iPad, a line of multi-purpose tablets; and wearables, home, and accessories comprising AirPods, Apple TV, Apple Watch, Beats products, and HomePod.